Posted on 12/28/2007 9:41:36 AM PST by ECM
Beijingers were warned to stay indoors on Thursday as pollution levels across the capital hit the top of the scale, despite repeated assurances by the government that air quality was improving.
"This is as bad as it can get," a spokeswoman for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau told AFP.
"Level five is the worst level of air pollution. This is as bad as it has been all year."
According to the bureau's website, 15 out of the 16 pollution monitoring stations in urban Beijing registered a "five" for air quality rating.
The main pollutant was suspended particulate matter, which is usually attributed to coal burning and automotive exhaust.
"Old people and young children should reduce outdoor activities and protect their health," the spokeswoman said.
The Beijing Evening News warned residents not to do their morning exercises on Friday as pollution levels were likely to linger over the capital until a cold front moved in and blew some of the bad air away later in the day.
A lack of wind in the capital over recent days has led to a heavy cover of smog trapping in the pollutants, the paper said.
By nightfall, the pollution was still horrendously thick.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Good luck breaking any records in that stew, Olympians.
It can get worse if they set off a few nukes.
You have never seen the likes of Steubenville, Ohio in the 50s and 60s; coal for houses, steel mills, and stocking stuffers left their soot on the walls of all the buildings; I think grafitti originated there, at least grafitti for people too poor to purchase a paint can, pencil or brush.
It’s the Chinese peoples’ problem now, we’ve got plastic.
Go suck a lemon, Al.
I was in Beijing for a few days this year. Even when it was “clear,” it was all indirect lighting where I couldn’t really tell where the sun was. Beijing, however, was not the most polluted city I was in. In a north central city, I was in the old city center, and I was looking for a thirteen story pagoda, which was 1.6 km from where I was. Although it should have bee plainly visible above the skyline, the haze was so think I could not see more than two blocks. I had to hire a taxi to find it, because I could not see enough to get my bearings.
I heard from someone that they are going to virtually shut down for weeks before the Olympics and ban travel by private vehicle to try to clear the air for the Games.
It’s going to be one heckuva Olympic Marathon.
Maybe they should invest in a big fan :)
Wow. That doesn’t look like smog, it looks more like a marine inversion layer. That’s frightening.
}:-)4
Yeah but did they sign the kyoto treaty????
I heard the same thing. Only in China would this be possible. Still, the call of Olympic gold must be awfully strong for athletes to agree to go there and compete in that stuff. Even if it looks better by the the start of the games, the air and the whole environment will still be a toxic cocktail.
Yes, but since they are a developing country there are no emissions limits on China. This is the reason the US did not sign. All that Kyoto does is transfer emissions from developed countries to developing countries. Much of China's growth is due to the fact that Europeans and Americans don't want dirty industry.
It should also be noted that Kyoto isn't the only dirty transfer to the developing world. European recycling initiatives typically have a lot of their trash shipped to China. That way Europeans can feel happy that they are recycling material while the Chinese 'recycling' companies simply bury it in landfills.
I thought that all that pollution was going up in the air and causing global warming. Looks like it is hugging the ground to me.
Fairbanks had several days of air alert last week when it was -30. The inversion and lack of wind keeps that stuff trapped in the valley. It wasn’t bad, just excess CO.
http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/Archives/History/weird.html
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